Voltage recording device



1940- R. K. HONAMAN' ET AL 2,139,110

VOLTAGE RECORDING DEVICE Filed Sept. 18, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 0 T l 21 571, 7612240744, 47 D INVENTORS Y LE5.

Feb. 6, 1940.

R. K. HONAMAN ET AL 2,189,110 VOLTAGE RECORDING DEVICE I Filed Sept. 18, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z; 11 1 2 a a Zbaddzzom stages of tubes 5576 117 pa allel to 6 71: Few

INVENTORS m .5- .fi onaflmi a wk k 5 azr/ H 4 ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 6, 1940 U'Niro smrss: PATENT r I 2;1s9,11'0 4 volumes RECORDINGDEVIGE:

. Richard. Karl'Honaman, Bloomfield; and was Kass o'n' Swart, Mbuntain Lakes,,N. J assignors. l l

to American Telephoneand Telegraph Co npan'y, a c orporationof New York ApplicationlSepternber' 18, 1936; Serial.No 101",522

' dCla ims." (ClZ177f-311) critical voltage is impressed lthereom/Eor ex- This: invention relates tovoltage recorders, and more especially to. voltage'recorder whichldis criminates between. vol tagesa which differ not only in magnitude, but in lengthofduratiomk One-of: the; objects of the. inventionsisw to provide a; method andtrn'eans for the. separation: of impulses: of long; and: short durations. Another object: is: to?! provide. record: of: the number-of I times-that: certain types of: voltagesa-re impressed on. a circuit. Stillra further object is to obtain a record of. how: frequently such voltages: may

exceed:certaini'specifl'ed' values or lie within certainispecified limits. l y

v V The. invention: is: particularly adaptedfor. use on. transmission lines, circuits and; apparatus:sub- .iectv to disturbing: voltages from: lightning and from; adioining'power lines. or systems. It. is impoi-taut in. many'cases; as on telephone lines, to

' know how frequently, such; disturbancesoccur, and. further to know how many ofithe'occul' renoes are due 'to lightning and. how many are: due to neighboring power systems. To? this endwe make usev oi. the fact that lightning, disturbances: are

V usually of: very short. duration, whereaspower line. disturbances likely to pensistfor a relatively longer period; By means of suitable delay circuits employing: gasefilled: tubes we are able to discriminate between and separate theirnpulses of" long: andishort duration. Furthermore; by means of our circuit we areable" to record in a stcp-by-step' manner the number of" times that the voltages of the one character orf the other exceed. certain values or. liewithin certain specifiedlimits. v l 3 Theinvention willlbefbetter understood-by reference to the followingspecifications and accentpanying; drawings; in which. Figure 1 shows one circuit embodying our invention and Figr2 is a modification thereofi Figs. lA-and: 2A are modi- 40 ficatious of Figs. 1. and 2, respectively, and are added. to clarity the disclosure. The: latter Figures 1A and: 2A: are. to. be read; with the corre sponding Figs. 1 and 2. f

Referring." morespecifically to Fig. 1:, thereis shown; our measuring circuit with one. terminal A to be attached. towhatever line orcircuitisunder observation. From this terminal one-passes through a plurality of resistances in parallelto ground at G, the functionof these parallel resistances being described:hereinafter. Associated with the first of these resistancesRr is a gasfilled tube T1. This tube, which is characteristic of the other devices used in the circuit, consists of a container with two electrodes i and f sim- 55 ilar' material and structure. Also-within said container is anadditional electrode? which will hereinafterb'e referred'toas the anode. The tube contains certain gases, such as argon or neon,

and at such pressure that a discharge will occur 5 between the electrodes IandZ-When a certain operating-type.

ample, the -tubes might vet-y," well; be adjusted to break down. at.--"1G.volts.{ Since. theelectrodes 1 occur in the one direction. or the otherjwith equal facility, provided: no bias potential is used. If: the electrode: is. included in: any derived. circuitwhich contains voltage; then currentwill flow through: the derived circuitcomprisingtheeleetrode 3- and, either of the electrodes l 01 z; after: the gap from i'tofthas' beenrbrokenidownr This will. be trueeven thought the voltage: in r the dedown;- Immediately circuit: will. be established as follows; Battery Bg,-1'elaysilk and H, the. gas

and tar-e similarinrcharacter, the-discharge'may tube'r'lllythrough the anode i resistance. R51, battery "B1; The relays Ill-"and! i. are of a -very fast It will beobserved that a. resistance Ba isshown in serieswith the tube T1. and resistance. R1, this being for the purpose of limiting the current which flow through the tube from. thelter minal-A Resistance maybe.introduced to=adjust th e cum'ent'florving through relaysi-i Brand... l l. when the tube T 1- breaks down and. to permitthe usecii a value of bias which may exceedthe sue?- taining value of ionizationbetween inputreleotrodes.- Resistance R6,- shuntedaroundthe relay i i, may be introduced to adjust the current flowing: through relay H-.= l

The operation of relay throughits contact andthrough. the back .contact of relay hi, it this latterrelayis not operated. l h'e completion of thiscircuit places adirect short: around the relay it, the. tube-I11 341111 116;-

sistance Rs; thus bringingabout deionization of T1, if theionizing voltage at A islno longerpresent. l The opening ofthe circuit at T1 willcause the contacts of relay. Ma tobe openedwhereuponethe tube will. no longer be shorted,.-and= it the disturbing voltage is-still' presenathe tube T1 will again be immediately ionized; the relay II will. be

. excited and-theperformance repeated. Thusthe Contact of relay ll will vibrate back and forth; opening. and closing itscircuit solong. as disturball 7 It closes a circuit ing voltage is present at A. The relay Ill, which maybe of the same type as M, will also have been held operated and its contact would ordinari ybe vibratingexcept that a hangover devif i: i

' marking relay. This relay is used to operate ative of B1.

vided comprising condenser C1 and resistance R7. As long then, as the contacts of Icontinue to vibrate, i; e., as long as disturbing potential is present at A, the relay ill will remain operated.

Attention is now called to the gas-filled tube T2, which is bridged across a circuit comprising condenser C2 and resistance Rs in parallel. This condenser circuit is normally shorted through the back contact of relay l0.

Voltage is provided to the condenser C2 from battery B2 through a large resistance R9, condenser C2, front contact of relay I0 when operated, and to negative of battery'BL When relay I0 is operated, the condenser 02 commences to charge up at a rate which is determined by the size of the capacity and the resistance R9 At the same time that the condenser is being charged from the battery, it also tends to discharge through and at a rate determined by the resistance R8. If, however, the'relay l0 remains operated long enough, then the charging of condenser C2 will build up a potential difference sufficient to cause the tube T2 to break down and to remain broken down'so long as relay I0 is operated. Included in the short circuit around the condenser 02 is a small resistance Rm to prevent excessive current through the back contact of relay l0. Also, in series with T2 is a resistance R11 to prevent excessive current through the tube.

From the circuit as thus far described, it will be observed that a certain discrimination has been obtained. The tube T1 will break down for any and all impulses at A exceeding a certain predetermined value. The tube T2, however, will break down only if the disturbance persists for longer than a predetermined time, this time be ing entirely under control through themagnitude of the condenser C2, the applied potential to the condenser and the various resistances.

Breakdown of T2 establishes current through the following circuit: From positive of B2, fastoperating relays l4 and I5 in parallel, anode of T2, resistance R11, front contact of relay l0, neg- Operation of relay 14 makes it impossible to short circuit the tube T1 so that it will continue in the ionized condition so long as the disturbing impulse continues or until relay [4 operates to establish a circuit through the slow-operate relay H, which in time will permit the shorting and deionization of tube T1. Operation of relay l5 connects positive of B2 through relay l8 to anode of gas tube T3. Nothing occurs here, however, unless T3 has been broken down in a manner similar to T1.

It will be noted that T3 normally has impressed upon it the voltage of B1 which, however, is insufiicient to cause breakdown. When sufficient disturbing voltage, however, appears at A, then the additional drop through R2 will bring the voltage across T3 to a sufiicient value to cause breakdown. The potential at the point A required for this can be made adjustable by the potentiometer connection from the tube T3 to resistance R2. Thus it may be arranged so that the relay i8 is operated only if the potential at A, lasts longer than the predetermined time required to operate T2, and only if it exceeds a specified desired value. Operation of relay 18 immediately closes circuit from battery B3 through relay MR designating a measuring or a pen marking on a moving tape, or to operate any other appropriate recording mechanism.

The anode of tube T2 is shown connected through the winding of relay l8 and a 100,000 ohm resistor to ground. This grounded circuit is employed to dissipate any charge on the anode while the gas of tube T3 is deionized. The gas of tube T: will become ionized when a sufiiciently high voltage becomes applied to its two cathodes (shown as flat plates) as already explained and the gas will become deionized when the previously applied high voltage disappears. The winding of relay 18 will be effectively deenergized as soon as relay [5 releases.

From the above it will be seen that by virtue of its delay characteristics the circuit as thus far described definitely discriminates between impulses of short and long duration. No record is producedby the relay MR, unless the disturbing voltage has persisted for more than a certain length of time and has exceeded a certain predetermined value.

In addition to recording these relatively long duration impulses, it is desirable to know how many times impulses of any nature exceeding certain values occur. To this end a gas discharge tube T5 is connected in a manner analogous to that of T1, so that it normally has impressed across its terminals the voltage of B1. In the presence of excessive voltage at A, the tube T5 will break down, excessive current being prevented by resistance R Breakdown of T5 establishes circuit from B2 through the fast acting relays 20 and 2| and anode of T5 to negative of B1. Operation of relay 2!! closes circuit from B3 through the marking relay 22, which will in turn operate a pen or other recording device to indicate each occurrence of excessive voltage at A Without regard to whether it is of long or short duration. Operation of relay 22 will also permit the contact of 2! to short circuit the tube T5 if 22 hasoperated, bringing about deionization and thus causing the contact of 2! to vibrate so long as the voltage persists at A. A hangover circuit comprising. condenser C3 and resistance R15 is provided for the relay 2ll, thus operating in precisely the same manner as described for the hangover for relay l0. Thus the relay 22 will mark but once for each disturbance at A no matter how long may be its duration.

The recorder connected with 22 will give the total number of disturbances occurring within a given interval of time. The recorder connected with IE3, however, discards all the impulses due to lightning flashes, and records only those which will persist for a longer period of time, these normally being disturbances due to power systems. The difierence between the two records, then, will also give the information as to the number of lightning disturbances in the given interval.

It will at times be desirable to know approximately the voltage of the various long duration impulses. This may be accomplished by means of a plurality of tubes corre ponding to T2. The tube T1 can be adjusted to break down at a fairly low value of say 15 volts by the setting on the resistance R1, but additional stages of tubes and resistances corresponding to T3 and R2 may be connected to the terminal in identically the same manner, each being set to trip only for successively higher values of potential at A. Each oi such succeeding tubes would be provided with relays corresponding to Hi and marking relays corresponding to 89. Thus the stage Ts could be adjusted to record only voltages exceeding 15 volts, etc. The following one could be adjusted to record only over 30 volts, and so on for as many stepsqas desired, and for steps of as large or as small values as desired. The difference between the readings of two successive records 1 would give the number of impulses'oflong duradetailed statements as to the magnitudes of the diirerent elements.

of the invention, however, we have indicated on tion which come within. the limits of the voltages for which those two records are set.

In the specification the difierentclements have been referredto by reference characters with no For a better understanding the drawing some values which would be appro priate. In that connection the -character w represents ohms and M representedthousands of ohms. Thus 20M represents 29,090 ohms.

. The circuit of Fig. 2 is similar in many respects to 'that of Fig. l, but with certain modifications.

Thus the tubes T1,.T2and'1l3 function in substantially the same way as in Fig. 1.

They are here shown with metallic shields S, which may or may not be used, as desired to exclude light and for electrostatic field shielding in both the tubes of this circuit and the tubes ofFig. l. The tube T3 would be followed by additional stages to record step-by-step increasing voltage of the disturbances. The resistance R1 is shown connected across a line at the terminals Aand D, the terminalitself being showngrownded at G. The relays it! and lloperatein the same mannor to control the delay circuit CzRs. Thus, T2 1 is not operated unless the disturbances at A exceed'a certain predetermined length of time.

it will be observed, however, that the short cir-- cuiting of the tube T1 by the contact of relay ii is not subject to a" relay controlled by T2,. thus reducing lost measuring time between impulses that may berecorded. i o

In this Fig. 2 the relays i l and i5 otFigl are replaced by a single two-winding relay M. The one-winding 25 serves as a lock-up through the back contact of relay El. also that operation of ,T2 puts batteryvoltage B;

7 through front contact'of relay i l on the relays jthoseof appreciably longer duration.

2'! and 28 in series with each other with suitable resistance R20 to control the current.

Operation of relay 2'1, which is a slow-operate relay, unlocksthe relay 2%. Operation of relay 28 controls theoperation oi'a recording device,

such as a pen recorder stamping device, etc! which is indicated at 39. It will be noted that operation of T2 also puts positive of B2 on theanode of T3, which if in an ionized condition permits operation of relay 29. This condition of ionization results only if the voltage I at A has been sufiicient to break down tube T3.

device.

. It will beseen that as thus far described the circuit of Fig. 2 is a two-stage measuring arrangement being set to record only if the impulses are of a duration exceeding that necessary to operate the delay tube Tathis being ordinarily set to exclude lightning effects and record only The recording device fillwill make a record for all impulses exceeding this in duration and exceeding a certain predetermined voltage. The pen 3i -Iwould operate only under additional voltage and only on impulses exceeding the voltages to which recorder, 3i! responds by a definite amount predeterminedby the setting of the resistances of the circuit. In Fig. 2 there is shown one of a variety of alarm circuits which. can be used. Thus, when the recorder 30 is operated by clos It will b e noted.

The relay 29 in turn controlsa pen or otherrecording ing'voltage on the circuit.

ing of contacts of relay 23, current also passes through relay ill to operate an alarm circuit '41. A lock-up circuit for relay il? is provided through the switch 32. The alarm remains operated untilreleased by an attendant. The pen recorder is used to indicate the time of an operation and is not ordinarily employed when there is an attendant to reset the alarm and to log the time of its operation.

While it has been implied that the gas tubes of any one circuit, or of the two circuits, are

identically the same, this is not necessary.

Thus some of the tubes in any one circuit may be argon tubes, or they may be neon tubes or mixtures thereof, this being determined largely by the voltages at which it is desired to have any one tube break down and the desired speed i of deionization oi the gas.

It is evident that many changes may be made in these circuits and the circuit arrangements without departing fromthe spirit of our invention, and all such changes should be considered as coming within our invention as claimed.

What is claimed is: o I 1. The combination of two gas discharge tubes, acircuit including means responsive to all ir'npulses exceeding a. predetermined voltage value to ionize the gas of one of said tubes, said circuit also including means responsive to all impulses exceeding a predetermined duration to 2. In a measuring device for responding to the impression of disturbing voltages on a circuit, said device comprising a series of three tubes coupled to each other, a translating device, means for breakingdown the first tube in response tolall substantial disturbing voltages on i said circuit, the second tube being controlled by the first, means including a timing apparatus for breaking down said second tube only if the first is responsive for morethan a specified duration of time, means for breaking down the third tube [in response to disturbing voltages on said circuit exceeding a specified value, and translating means controlled by the second and third tubes and operating. said translating devices only if both the second and third tubesare themselves broken'down. V

. 3. The combination of claim 2 characterized by the presence of a plurality of tubes corresponding to the third'tube and connected in parallel, thereto, each such tubebeing broken down ata definite but different value of disturb i l. The combination of claim 2 characterized by the presence of a plurality of tubes corresponding to the third tube and connected in parallel thereto, each such tube being broken down at a definite but different value of disturbing' voltage on the circuit, and a plurality of translating devices, one controlled by each of said parallel tubes to translate the number of disturbances present on the circuit exceeding the voltage for which the tube is broken down.

RICHARD KARL HONAMAN.

LELAND KASSON SWART. 

